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Sept. 14, 2007

DAVIS, Calif. - Despite four goals by senior Nick Arrigo, No. 8-ranked UC Davis was unable to pull off a mild upset in its home-opening water polo game, falling 9-6 to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara in a non-conference game at Schaal Aquatics Center Friday afternoon.

The Aggies even their record at 3-3. The Gauchos improve to 9-1.

Senior driver Ross Sinclair led the victors with three goals while sophomore Zsomobor Vincze scored on a pair of 6-on-5 chances. For UC Davis, junior Grant Muenter accounted for the balance of his team's offense, connecting on two even-strength goals.

"We'll go watch this game on video right now, and the team will see the things we've been talking about," said Aggie head coach Steve Doten. "We've obviously worked on some things because we saw it in this game. It was a closer game and the score was a little lower, which is good. But we have senior players who are still making some mistakes."

UC Davis struggled offensively in the early going, shooting 0-for-7 with five turnovers in the first quarter. Sinclair found the net twice in that period to open the Gaucho offense. UCSB bumped its lead to three goals on Travis Watts' man-up goal early in the second, then sophomore Stefan Partelow converted his five-meter penalty shot at 2:53 to extend the Gaucho advantage to 4-0.

Muenter finally put the Aggies on the board on the ensuing possession, but UCSB answered with a fifth goal when Milos Golic fed senior hole setter Matt Dale for a two-meter goal shortly before the halftime break. After a 5-1 lead at intermission, the Gauchos continued to build their lead in the third. Vincze completed a full-tank counter by dropping a short lob into the Aggie net at the 3:37 mark, giving UCSB a 7-1 advantage.

Muenter hit an outside shot with 1:05 left in the third and Arrigo finished a 6-on-5 chance at the horn to allow UC Davis to fight back to a 7-3 deficit into the fourth period. Arrigo struck again early in the final quarter as his side-armed shot found the lower left corner of the cage, cutting the Gaucho lead to 7-4. However, the Aggies never approached closer than a three-goal margin as UCSB converted its next two 6-on-5 chances in protecting the win.

"This will be a great weekend. I like the intensity and how hard we work," said Doten. "The players basically stood up for themselves and didn't get rolled over. They put the Cal game behind them and it didn't have any negative effect. I think that's encouraging. I'm 50-50 on this game because there are a lot of things that need to get better, but we're making progress."

UC Davis goalie Mike McGee finished with seven saves. His counterpart, senior Rick Wright, posted five goals in first-half stint.

The Aggies continue weekend action at the Northern California Open, hosted by Cal on Saturday and Sunday.

GOALS - UCSB: Ross Sinclair 3, Zsombor Vincze 2, Ratko Paunovic 1, Travis Watts 1, Stefan Partelow 1, Milos Golic 1. UC Davis: Nick Arrigo 4, Grant Muenter 2.

GOALIES - UCSB: Rick Wright 5 (16:00), Michael Robinson 4 (16:00). UC Davis: Mike McGee 7 (32:00).